Kids sometimes have sticky fingers.
Hopefully, they grow out of it. More importantly, though, parents should have a talk with them about why stealing is wrong.
One Redditor has a young nephew who seems to be a bit more than an occasional thief — and the latest thing he’s stolen is the OP’s engagement ring that he’s about to present to his girlfriend.
Apparently, the kid says he doesn’t know where the ring went, but the OP knows he is lying. Now, the OP has kicked the kid and his family out of his house, where they were temporarily staying, and they must go to a cheap motel.
“The reason I (26M) know is because I literally caught him in my room going through my things. And it’s on freakin camera. My nephew is 9 and has a habit of stealing things. They’ve gotten in trouble a few times at stores because he’d leave with something in his pockets. But ofc because he’s a kid they usually just say he forgot he had it. Even at school my brother has told me they have had to come talk to the principal aim a couple occasions. Doesn’t seem like they’ve done anything to stop it,” the OP says.
“They had to come stay here with me because my brother lost his job and they weren’t gonna make it with all their bills including rent. He’s doing Uber rn while he searches for a job and they can move out. I didn’t want to because of my nephew specifically but family is family I guess. A month ago I finally bought an engagement ring for my girlfriend that I was planning on proposing to soon but now I don’t know. It’s a $4k ring that I spent over a year saving up for. It’s been hidden in my room under one of my drawers. One time when I found him snooping in my room I told my brother to control his damm kid, then got one of those cheap spy cams in my room just incase. Then last week I noticed it was out of its box, after checking the cam it showed he was in there again when I wasn’t home. My brother and his wife have yelled at him.”
“He says he left it by the tv in the guest room but it’s not there. They looked through all their stuff and his too. I know for a fact he’s lying about not having it because that’s the same thing he said about one of my watches he took then ended up finding it. By the second day my brother tells me they can’t find it at all. And I told him either they find the ring or he repays me the $4k I spent on it, if not they can’t stay here anymore.”
“My brother got really upset, he told me I know how their situation is right now, and yeah it’s a tough spot but I couldn’t ignore the fact that his kid he can’t parent took something extremely important to me that costed a lot of time and money. They were given a week to leave my house if they don’t find the ring. They’re having to stay at a cheap motel but my brother won’t stop begging to come back because what they’re paying right now each night is coming directly out of their savings. He won’t stop calling me heartless about letting something like this come between helping them out through a difficult time and my nephew keeps saying he’s sorry.”
“It’s just hard right now to want them around. Don’t even know what to do about the ring and every time I think about it it just makes me so mad that it’s hard to care about their situation. Does that make me an a*shole?”
What do Redditors think the OP should do? And where is the ring?
“NTA – they sold the ring,” said VonShtupp.
“File a police report and take them to small claims. You have the proof on camera. NTA. Hopefully not, but there is a possibility he was encouraged to do it and it was pawned,” suggested kokobrii.
“My theory is the parents are teaching this to the kid knowing it’s not likely a 9 yo will get in any serious trouble. Hard times makes people do stupid sh*t, and pawning your brothers $4,000 ring is mighty stupid. OP, you should call around the local pawn shops to see if they’ve bought a stolen ring lately. You’ll have your answer and ring back pretty quickly,” said Ck1ngK1LLER.
“As a former pawn shop employee, you will likely need a police report. If it was pawned, it’ll sit in the safe for up to two and a half months, depending on state/company policies, if no payment is made. If it was sold, it’ll be about a month before it’s on the sales floor. With a police report, they’ll check all your local pawn shops with a matching description. If you suspect it might’ve been pawned, this is your best chance of finding it,” advised Lumpy_Breakfast_0217.
“NTA. The nephew isn’t sorry, he’s just sorry he got caught and is having to live in a crappy motel with his idiot parents. Your brother needs to grow a pair and own up to his crappy parenting. He also should pay you back the 4k that you spent on the engagement ring,” said smolspider90.
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